January 06, 2019

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - Doe-Eyed, UnSpun

On "60 Minutes," rookie congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made what I experienced as an unspun presentation of herself and her socialist ideas. A side treat were the doe eyes, much like those of the the character Alicia Florrick on "The Good Wife."

In an era of politicos being carefully scripted, Cortez was refreshing.

Her socialist agenda appeals to those of us who had sampled that kind of lifestyle.

Essentially, at least in the 1970s, being part of a university doctoral program provided for all our needs. The high price of entry, of course, was competing to be admitted to the prestigious degree course of studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Once in, we had enough teaching and research assignments to make ends meet. Tuition was peanuts because we were graduate assistants. No, we weren't going to get rich or even be able to save but we didn't have to fret about becoming homeless.

In addition, Ann Arbor was zoned for student boarding houses. Living in them was cheap and there were always other highly educated people around to talk with. Thanks to them, I was able to exit an inappropriate engagement for marriage.

Of course, leaving a socialistic system for capitalism was a brutal adjustment. The upside of that, though, was that during the boom years you could make and invest plenty of money. There were fancy vacations and high profiles in the media for our accomplishments.

Which system do I prefer? The socialist one. It was reassuring not to have the wolf at the door. We could relax. We could think, which is what we were supposed to do in graduate school. Close friendships were possible.

To have that available for all Americans I would be willing to pay higher taxes. If the economy sours and our investments tank, Cortez probably will pick up a lot of support.